MILK

When it comes to biopics, MILK doesn't exactly break the mold.  It's got flashbacks, stock footage, the entire character arc... it certainly doesn't try the risky things that I'M NOT THERE tried last year.  But when a story is as compelling and as moving as the life of Harvey Milk is, you don't have to do a whole lot of storytelling tricks.  You just hire some terrific actors, get a truly great director like Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, LAST DAYS), write a funny, warm, and emotional script, and then just go nuts.  Granted, those are pretty difficult things to do on their own.  But with MILK, we get all that and a resonant political message too.  I'll get to that in a bit, because it's the one thing that made me angry about the movie.

I don't want to rehash the plot too much, as it should be familiar with everyone by now.  But I was astonished in many ways by Sean Penn's performance as Milk, not the least of which was his genuine warmth and heart.  Penn's played dark and conflicted for a while now, and his Milk doesn't have a lot in common with his other characters.  If anything, Penn's Milk reminded me of his first major character, Jeff Spicoli.  Each of those share an endless optimism, and like Spicoli Penn is very funny in this as well.  He doesn't play Milk as a martyr.  This was not a man who wanted to die - Harvey Milk loved life and looked forward to a new day every morning.  One of my favorite scenes had Milk attending a christening for another city supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin) and his endless curiosity about being exposed to another aspect of human life.  And yet, Harvey Milk is proud of being gay and refuses to feel guilty about it.  As Penn plays him, Milk uses humor to diffuse tension, but he also knows when not to back down from a fight when he or his way of life is threatened.

Josh Brolin turns in another amazing performance in a row as Dan White, Milk's eventual assassin.  He could have played him as a simple bigot, but Brolin plays him as a complicated, conflicted man, and the film hints that he may be gay-repressed as well.  It is a sympathetic performance and yet makes no excuses for his actions.  Another of my favorite scenes is when White invites Milk to his child's christening, and after Milk's friends berate him for agreeing to come, Milk tells them that to get the support of the straight community, they must be willing to engage them and show them that they aren't a threat to their beliefs.  Which brings me to my final point, and why I'm angry.

This film could have built bridges had it been released earlier.  Yes, MILK is upfront with its characters sexuality, and it doesn't shy away from it.  And at the same time, it shows us as an audience that these people have the same goals and passions as everyone else - to live their lives free from persecution, to have good jobs, to find love, to raise a family.  The film even makes a hilarious point - straight or gay, no one likes stepping in dog shit.  The heinous law that is Proposition 8 passed because of people's fear of the unknown, and here is a film that makes it plain as day - the gay community isn't going away and we should all try a little empathy and understand each other a little bit, and not to be guided by dogma from people who have no interest in anything except to make more money for their churches and to marginalize people into groups that hate each other.  This is a film that should have been released much earlier than it did.  I think even Harvey Milk would agree with that, and he wouldn't have minded the exposure, either.

This year's seen a lot of superhero movies - DARK KNIGHT, HANCOCK, IRON MAN - and in my opinion, MILK is the best superhero movie of the year.  I'm not being glib, or trying to sound glib.  Genuine heroes are few and far between and we need to celebrate them when they come along.  MILK isn't dwelling on his death - it celebrates his life.  Definitely a must-see.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Most movies romanticize childhood to the point of nullifying its power. Sure, films like STAND BY ME or E.T. can look back on it with nostalgia and fondness, but it can be difficult to remember that much of the time being a kid just flat out sucked.  If you weren't an alpha, you were likely picked on, and getting distance from it can make one lose perspective.  But at the time, it's pretty terrifying and there's real danger in it.  Being 12 is tough, no matter when you grew up.

Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) is a young kid in Sweden during the winter of 1982.  He's shy, socially awkward, and under constant bullying by a group of kids.  At night, he hangs out in his apartment courtyard, stabbing at a tree and vowing revenge against his abusers.  His father is absent except for the occasional weekend visit, and his mother simply is too busy to be bothered with him.

One night, while in a particular fit, Oskar turns around in the courtyard to see a young girl perched on top of a jungle gym.  Her name is Eli (Lina Leandersson), and she quietly intones that "we can't be friends." Oskar is intrigued by her, even though she smells funny, and lets her borrow his Rubik's Cube.  She lives next door with an older gentleman who may or may not be her father.  The next day, he finds his Rubik's Cube solved and Eli replies when asked how she did it: "I just twisted it."  There's something odd about Eli, why she only turns up at night and doesn't seem to mind the cold at all.  Plus there's the fact that her "father"Hakan keeps to himself and goes out at odd times.  It's a dangerous place to be, because someone's apparently killing people and tapping them of their blood.  It doesn't take long for the audience to discover that Eli is a vampire and that Hakan is keeping her alive by murder.  Hakan is getting old, however, and he can't keep killing people like he used to.  Soon Eli is alone and against her own misgivings she is drawn to Oskar, as two lonely children form a deep, lasting bond.

Tomas Alfredson has a way with children as both Kare and Lina are amazing in their roles.  They're so good that it doesn't feel like they are acting.  John Lindqvist's script (based on his novel) is tender and then suddenly terrifying.  Make no mistake, this is a horror film, but it explores young love and friendship in a way that I've never experienced before in a film of this type.  And the vampire myth is done correctly, for the first time in many years, in my opinion.  No leather jackets and quiet teen angst here - Eli's tortured existence wouldn't be wished on anyone.  Her feeding is terrifying and bloody, and there's not a whiff of romance about her state in the film.  Furthermore, they follow the vampire rules to a T (although there isn't any religious angle to the myth as portrayed here).  In one scene Oskar wants to see what it would be like for a vampire to come in the house uninvited, and Eli shows him the horrifying truth to her nature.  As the neighbors begin to suspect that not everything is right with their new tenants, the body count starts to rise and Eli begins to fall in love with Oskar.  "Are you 12?" Oskar asks.  "Yes, but I've been 12 for a long time," she replies.

There's a controversial nature to Eli and Oskar's relationship that I won't spoil here except that more conservative viewers may be taken aback.  And yet, I felt that it was completely appropriate and in its way, innocent.  We see something of Oskar's family history in the film and in it we can see the formations of Oskar's bond with Eli.  As their friendship deepens and grows, Oskar begins to shed his childhood and we come to understand that this film becomes something of a romance, unconventional as it may seem.  I was incredibly moved by this film and at the same time it's one of the most effective horror films I've seen in years.  Highly recommended, and in my opinion, the bulk of the movie audience this weekend is seeing the wrong vampire film.  Do not miss this.  One of the best of the year.